The Night Watchman scrutinized Xu Qian imperceptibly. Seeing his body tense and his smile forced, he offered reassurance: "I'm only following orders to bring you in for questioning. I don't know the specifics. However—money received, trouble resolved. When we reach the yamen, remember one thing: what should be said, don't conceal. What shouldn't be said, don't reveal even under torture."
*Damn it... Isn't that exactly what I know already? This advice isn't even worth thirty taels. This is just like 'the matter has been referred to the relevant departments'—a stock phrase with no sincerity.* Xu Qian really wanted to slap the squinting man to death, but he didn't dare.
The carriage passed through busy markets and long streets, arriving at the Night Watchmen's yamen at the hour of the Snake.
Xu Qian jumped down and was escorted into the famous, fearsome headquarters.
The offices were converted from two compounds of three courtyards each. Towers loomed high, and Night Watchmen in black uniforms with copper gongs strode in and out, their expressions severe, their bearing intimidating.
*I wonder if I'll be thrown into the Night Watchmen's dungeon—a place that eats people whole. I'll play it by ear first. I'm a law-abiding citizen; I haven't broken any laws...* Xu Qian took a deep breath and steadied his nerves.
Before long, he was led to a small courtyard.
Two Night Watchmen stood at the gate. After the handoff, the squinting man stopped at the entrance and said with a smile: "Go in. Good luck."
With that, he and his stern-faced companion departed.
Xu Qian was ushered inside. Two Night Watchmen pushed open the door and said coldly: "Enter."
It was an interrogation room. In the corner sat every manner of torture device. At the center was a bare, long table.
The presiding officer had not yet arrived.
Xu Qian didn't dare sit. He stood in the room, pondering why the Night Watchmen had summoned him.
But before he could think further, footsteps sounded—someone was entering the courtyard.
The door swung open. Two middle-aged men with silver gongs embroidered on their chests walked in.
Xu Qian's muscles went taut. He swiftly scanned the two Silver Gongs and was surprised to recognize one of them.
The man had a high-bridged nose, strong features, and slightly pale irises—half Southern Barbarian blood.
It was the same Silver Gong he had met in the yamen's rear hall during the tax silver case.
"We meet again." Li Yuchun nodded, his eyes devoid of warmth.
The two Silver Gongs sat behind the table, their expressions grave, their gaze sharp as they studied Xu Qian.
"I ask, you answer. Lie, and we'll use the full array of instruments." The unfamiliar Silver Gong spoke in a low voice.
"Yes..." Xu Qian's heart sank. The two men were looking at him like a criminal.
Li Yuchun frowned: "Before answering, straighten your attire. That's basic courtesy."
Xu Qian noticed his lapels were too loose, unevenly aligned—from reaching into his robe to retrieve banknotes in the carriage.
After he straightened his collar, Li Yuchun's expression eased slightly, as if a weight had been lifted.
The unfamiliar Silver Gong asked: "Did you know that the mastermind behind the tax silver case was the former Vice Minister Zhou?"
Xu Qian answered truthfully: "Miss Caiwei of the Directorate told me."
"And you knew that Zhou Li's actions against you were also driven by revenge."
"I suspected as much."
Xu Qian kept the squinting young man's advice firmly in mind: conceal nothing that should be said. That day, the Directorate's white-robed disciples had stormed the Ministry of Justice to rescue him—witnessed by too many to deny.
Better to admit it freely, projecting an air of openness.
"Did you know that Zhou Li intended to have you killed?"
"I did."
"So, to avoid retaliation from the Zhou family, you kidnapped the illegitimate daughter of Marquis Weiwu and framed Zhou Li." The unfamiliar Silver Gong's eyes flashed with piercing light.
*So that's what this is about...* Xu Qian was completely unruffled. He even feigned bewilderment and the panic of being wronged: "Your words are beyond me, sir."
"On the day the Marquis's illegitimate daughter was kidnapped, you were absent from the Changle County yamen. Where did you go?"
"I went to the pleasure house to listen to music. I admit I was derelict in my duty—I often slipped away to the pleasure house."
Warden Wang and the other clerks could testify to this, since they all did the same.
Besides, my Changle County runner skipping work to visit a pleasure house had nothing to do with the Night Watchmen.
"How do you explain the travel permits? Records at the yamen show multiple entries for you into the inner city." Li Yuchun spoke in a low voice.
"I'm innocent!" Xu Qian widened his eyes, defending himself passionately. "I have never been to the inner city. I have never obtained a travel permit from the yamen."
*They're bluffing me. Every time I entered the inner city, I had someone else get the permit—spotless execution. The permit was under Yang Ling's name—what does that have to do with me, Xu Qian?*
The two Silver Gongs interrogated him for a while but failed to catch any inconsistency in his words.
They exchanged a glance, apparently surprised.
*When it comes to interrogation techniques, I'm a professional too...* Xu Qian relaxed, but his gaze fell on the torture instruments and his heart clenched again.
Li Yuchun sighed: "Not bad. If we hadn't already gathered evidence, that conversation alone might have convinced me."
*Bluffing again... and with such confidence...* Xu Qian kept his face expressionless.
As a police academy graduate with years of working at a police station, Xu Qian was confident he could handle any interrogation—unless it involved beating a confession out of him. That was a different matter.
With Vice Minister Zhou already fallen, Xu Qian believed the Night Watchmen wouldn't push too far without hard evidence.
The unfamiliar Silver Gong reached into his pocket, produced a small notebook, opened it, glanced at Xu Qian, and read aloud:
"First day of the tenth month, Day of the Dog. Xu Qian returned from White Deer Academy. Purchased two gold hairpins at Treasure Vessels Pavilion. Was tailed en route, suspected agents of the Zhou residence.
"That evening, I repelled an assassin sent by the Zhou household.
"Second day of the tenth month, Day of the Pig. Relocated female relatives to White Deer Academy for protection.
"Fifth day of the tenth month, Day of the Tiger. Entered the inner city. Visited the Bureau of Music. Stayed overnight at Yingmei Pavilion. 'Gifted to Lady Fuxiang' suspected to be Xu Qian's work.
"Seventh day of the tenth month, Day of the Dragon. Drove a carriage to collide with the illegitimate daughter of Marquis Weiwu. Kidnapped the Marquis's daughter using unknown methods."
The unfamiliar Silver Gong closed his notebook, shot Xu Qian a mocking look, and let out a derisive laugh.
Xu Qian's body went cold inch by inch, as if stripped of clothing in the dead of winter. A shudder slowly ran through him.
*The Night Watchmen have been following me... Since the day I went to the academy... Every move I've made these past days has been witnessed by the Night Watchmen... It's over!*
*Why would the Night Watchmen follow me? I'm just a minor clerk—that doesn't make sense...* Xu Qian raged silently in his mind.
He felt the despair of an abyss.
Framing a Vice Minister of Revenue, kidnapping a marquis's daughter—both crimes combined were enough to warrant execution of the entire family.
White Deer Academy's Grand Confucian Masters couldn't save him. The Directorate's white-robed disciples couldn't save him. No one could save him!
*My footwork was clean—not a single piece of evidence left behind. But the Night Watchmen who followed me witnessed my entire scheme... Man proposes, God disposes.*
Beads of cold sweat, large as soybeans, sprang from Xu Qian's forehead. Under the two Silver Gongs' mocking, cold stares, they slowly slid down his cheeks and dripped to the floor.
Wait!
He suddenly noticed an illogical detail. If the Night Watchmen had witnessed everything, why hadn't they exposed him?
All they had to do was submit their report, and Zhou Li would be exonerated. The blade hanging over the Xu family—delayed by a month and a half—would fall once again.
Why wait until after Vice Minister Zhou's downfall to invite him over for "tea"?
Xu Qian exhaled a long breath, releasing every negative emotion with it. He bowed his head submissively: "I confess. It was all my doing. Whatever punishment the gentlemen see fit, I submit."
The stern-faced Silver Gong raised an eyebrow, exchanged a glance with Li Yuchun, and both men smiled.
"Very clever. Extremely perceptive," Li Yuchun said. "Just now was a test. If you had revealed a flaw in your story, or if your resolve had crumbled before the ironclad evidence, what awaited you would have been real punishment."
He paused, his serious demeanor easing into a more relaxed smile: "But now, what awaits you is the Night Watchmen's invitation."